FRANK, LORD-PARAMOUNT--AN ANT VILLAGE--AMIABLE BEES--A HASTY DRAUGHT--
SEARCH FOR WATER--A STRANGER.
It was the second day after the narrow escape of our travellers as
related in the last chapter. The boys, attended by Lion, who seemed
quite strong again, were sitting under the shade of some gum trees, in
the immediate neighbourhood of what appeared to be a deserted village,
only that the houses were much larger and more solidly built than those
described in a previous chapter. They were awaiting the arrival of the
doctor, who had loitered behind to take leave of Omatoko, and make sure
that he had set off on his return to the Hottentot kraal. Frank had had
very great difficulty in parrying the importunity of the Hottentots, who
were fully convinced that the prosperity of the tribe would be secured
for ever, if he would but consent to take upon himself the chiefship,
from which they were prepared to eject Umboo without further ceremony.
When they found that his determination on the subject could not be
overcome, their chagrin was so great, that nothing but their
superstitious fears of Frank's influence with their deity restrained
them from using force to compel him to conform to their wishes. But he
had, by Lavie's advice, adopted a very curt and lofty demeanour with
them, refusing to listen to any argument, and peremptorily insisting
that all the arms belonging to the party should be restored, on pain of
his heavy displeasure. This demand was no sooner made known, through
Omatoko, than it was complied with. All the Hottentots who had
possessed themselves of the guns, shot-belts, powder-flasks, watches,
etc, bringing them back, and laying them at his feet with the humblest
expressions of contrition. Umboo was among the suppliants, his cowering
figure presenting a curious contrast to the haughty and merciless aspect
he had exhibited only a few hours previously. Frank raised him up, and
gravely assured him of his forgiveness; but added that all the strangers
would depart on the following day, with provisions for one day's
journey, and Omatoko, as their guide, for the same space of time. But
after that, he said, the tribe must make no further inquiry respecting
them, under penalty, once more, of his displeasure! Umboo (who in his
heart, perhaps, was not unwilling to be rid of Frank, notwithstanding
the overwhelming advantages that would have attended his rule), answered
submissively, that the pleasure of the "favoured one" should be fully
executed; and accordingly, on the next day, the travellers had all left
the village and journeyed northwards, towards the spot known as the
Elephant's Fountain. Omatoko, who had been as much terrified as his
countrymen, waited on them during the journey with abject servility.
His time was now up, and he had been despatched on his return
homewards--Lavie (as the reader has heard) accompanying him some way, to
make sure that, after all, he did not intend to follow them.
"Well, Frank, you did it well, I must say," observed Nick, "and kept
your countenance a deal better than I should have done, when you talked
to them of the danger there was of your being displeased, if they failed
to perform any particular of your sovereign pleasure. I wonder what
they thought _would_ have happened, if you had been angry with them!"
"Oh, they thought that there would come a murrain, and cut off the
cattle; and a blight, and destroy the fruit; and a pestilence, and kill
themselves. I had only to order, and I might pitch it into them any way
I liked! Omatoko told me so."
"Did he, the rascal! Well, upon my honour, Frank, if I had been you,
I'd have ordered them to give him six dozen, and Umboo nine dozen, and
Leshoo twelve. It is not one bit more than they deserved, and it would
have been a sight to see! The Hottentots would have laid it on, and
with a will too!"
"You don't mean what you are saying, Nick, I am sure," struck in Warley.
"I wonder you don't feel that this is not a thing to be made a joke
of."
"You're right, Ernest," said Frank; "we ought not to take it in that
way. Indeed, I am sure I am thankful enough for the mercy shown us, and
should be sorry if you thought otherwise. And so does Nick, too, I'll
answer for it."
"Of course I'm thankful," said Gilbert. "And I dare say I am too apt to
turn things into jest. Well, we'll drop the matter now, at all events.
And by the same token, here comes the doctor. Now, I suppose, we shall
hear whether this place will do for our halt for the night or not.
Well, doctor, is the rascal really gone?"
"Yes, I am satisfied he is. I doubted, at first, whether Omatoko really
believed in the beetle. He has lived so long among the Dutch, that I
thought he might have learned better. But he hasn't, I am persuaded.
Yes, he has really gone back. He daren't follow us."
"That is well, at all events. Well, what do you think of this as a
halting-place? It's an abandoned kraal, I suppose, only it must have
belonged to some tribe of savages, who took more pains with their
house-building than those Namaquas."
"Kraal, Nick? Do you suppose these houses, for such they may certainly
be called; do you suppose these houses to be the handiwork of men?"
"To be sure I do," returned Nick; "who but men could have built them?"
"They are nests of white ants," said Lavie, "and if we were to stay here
all night, our clothes, our knapsacks, our belts, and everything that
could be devoured by them, would be gnawed to pieces!"
"Ants, doctor! You are joking, surely. What--that hut there, or
whatever it is, is a good twenty feet high, and thirty, I'll go bail for
it, in diameter? Ants make that! It isn't possible."
"It's true, anyhow," said Lavie. "I know they have been found more than
a hundred feet in circumference. It is the enormous number of the ants
that enables them to construct such huge dwellings. And, after all,
their work is nothing compared with that of the coral insect of the
Pacific."
"Don't they sometimes build in the trunks of trees?" asked Warley.
"Very frequently," answered the surgeon. "Their mode of going to work,
when they do, is very much like their house-building. In the latter
case, they heap together an immense mass of earth, which they form into
innumerable galleries, all leading, inwards, to the central chamber of
the structure. When they choose a tree, and they generally pitch upon
one of the largest trees they can find--a baobab, perhaps, or a giant
fig--they simply eat these galleries out of the wood, taking care never
to disturb the outer bark. In this manner they will sometimes destroy
the whole inside of a vast fruit tree so completely, that it crumbles to
dust as soon as touched."
"Well, it is very wonderful," said Frank, "I wonder how it happens that
we have seen nothing of them during the two hours or so that we have
been here."
"That is because they work only by night. It is supposed, I believe,
that they are torpid by day."
"Well, then, I suppose we must shift our quarters," remarked Nick. "It
would not be pleasant to have the clothes eaten off one's back,
certainly. We had better start, hadn't we, or it will be late?"
"Stop a moment," said Lavie, who had been carefully noting one
particular ant-hill for some minutes. "Ay, I thought so," he added
presently, "there is a bees' nest in yonder mound, and most likely a
large accumulation of honey. If you are fond of honey, you may sup off
it without difficulty."
"I am very particularly fond of honey," answered Nick, "but I don't know
about there being no difficulty. The last time I assisted at the taking
of a hive, there was a very considerable `difficulty.' I was stung, in
fact, so badly, that I vowed never to go near bees again. However, if
_you_ don't mind--"
"None of us need mind," said the surgeon; "these bees are different from
our English bees. They never sting people. There isn't even any
necessity to smoke them."
"Really!" returned Nick. "Now that I call the height of amiability.
But are you sure, doctor? It seems too good to be possible."
"You'll soon see," said Lavie, walking up to the mound he had marked.
"Ay, there is the hole where the bee went in. Just hand me the knife,
Ernest." He cleared away the earth, avoiding, as much as possible, any
injury to the work of the bees, and presently laid bare a great mass of
comb, full of honey and pollen; of this he cut off several large pieces,
as much as they could conveniently carry; the bees, in complete
justification of his assurances, offering no kind of interference--a
fact which drew forth a second eulogium from Nick, who only deplored, he
said, that they couldn't be conveyed to England, to instruct their
brethren there.
They now resumed their journey, resolving to camp for the night at the
first spot where shade and water were to be found. But their quest was
not fortunate. The afternoon was unusually scorching and dry; and
though they came to several patches of trees and shrubs, they could find
neither fount nor pool. At length the sun had declined so low in the
horizon, that it was plain that scarcely more than an hour of daylight
remained; and they would have to pass the night without having quenched
their thirst, unless water should very speedily be discovered.
Under these circumstances they were greatly rejoiced to see Lion, who
had been trotting along soberly by Frank's side ever since they left the
ant-hills, suddenly throw up his head and snuff the air, which were his
modes of indicating that there was a spring at no great distance.
"Hurrah! old fellow," shouted Frank; "off then, and find it. We'll have
a race, Nick, which shall reach it first."
They started off, the other two following at a somewhat slower pace.
Lion soon went ahead, directing the course of the boys towards a small
kloof, visible about a mile off, containing a grove of palms and date
trees, with a thick belt of underwood surrounding it. Heedless of the
heat, which by this time, however, was a little tempered by the cool
breeze that had sprung up at sunset, they bounded gaily along, and
presently reached the kloof. It appeared to Frank--who, closely
following Lion, was the first of the four to enter it--quite a little
Paradise. Under the shade of the palms, surrounded by delicious
verdure, was a large spring bubbling up from the ground, and stealing
away in a brook, which ran babbling through the thicket, until lost to
sight.
"Hurrah!" he shouted. "Now for a jolly drink! What is the matter, old
boy?" he added a moment afterwards, as Lion instead of plunging into the
cool water, as was his ordinary habit, stood still on the brink, looking
up into Frank's face, with a perplexed and wistful look. "What's the
matter, Lion, why don't you drink? I suppose, poor beast," he added,
"he hasn't quite recovered even yet. Get out of the way, Lion; what are
you about? If you are not thirsty, at all events I am!"
He pushed the mastiff out of the way as he spoke, and throwing himself
on his hands and knees, took a long and delicious draught. "You don't
know what is good, Lion," he said. "It's a rum colour, and there is an
odd sort of taste about the water; but it is beautifully cool and
refreshing. Come, drink, old chap; it will do you a heap of good."
The dog, however, persistently refused to touch the water; and Nick, who
by this time had reached the grove, was so struck by the animal's
demeanour, that he paused before stooping to the waterside, and eyed it
with mingled doubt and curiosity. The next minute Lavie's voice was
heard--
"Don't any of you touch the water till I come."
"I am afraid that warning comes rather late in the day for me," said
Frank, laughing, though he felt, nevertheless, a little uneasy. "I've
had a delicious draught already. Why isn't one to touch it, Charles?"
he continued, as the doctor approached.
"I came upon a gnu, a minute or two ago, lying dead in the thicket. It
had no wound, and I suspected it had been poisoned. I know it is very
often the practice of the Bushmen to mix poisons of one kind or another
with the wells, and so kill the animals that drink at them. But very
likely the water is all right; only I had better examine it before--
stay, what is this? Won't Lion drink it?"
"No, he won't," said Frank; "and, Charles, I am sorry to say, I have
drunk a good deal of it before you called out I am afraid there is
something wrong. I feel very queer, anyhow."
"How do you feel?" asked Lavie, taking his pulse.
"I feel a giddiness in my head, and a singing in the ears, and am very
shaky on my legs. I had better lie down. I dare say it will go off
presently." He sank, as he spoke, rather than lay down, on the bank.
"Put your fingers down your throat, and try if you can't bring the water
off again," said the doctor. "Unluckily, I have no emetic in my
knapsacks. The Hottentots emptied out all the drugs, while they had
possession of our things."
Frank obeyed his directions, but with very little effect. He became
presently very drowsy, and Lavie, making a bed for him under a mimosa,
covered him up with all the spare garments of the rest of the party, and
some heaps of long dry grass. In a few minutes Frank seemed to be
asleep.
"Do you think he is very bad?" inquired Warley earnestly.
"I don't like the look of things, I must say," was the answer; "we don't
know what the poison is which the Bushmen have mixed with the water, and
therefore it would be difficult to apply the antidote, even if it could
be found here. Generally these poisons work very slow in the instance
of men, whatever they may do in animals. The best chance, I think,
would be to give him large draughts of fresh wholesome water, if we
could find it. It would probably dilute the poison and carry it off,
and it would anyway be good for him, as his pulse shows him to be very
feverish."
"We'll go and hunt for water," said Warley, "Nick and I; you stay with
Frank."
They took their guns, and went off in different directions. Warley
directed his steps towards another kloof, about two miles off, between
two high and stony hills. Trees and grass seemed to be growing in it
almost as abundantly as in that which he had just left, and if so, there
was probably either a brook, or water underground, which might be
obtained by digging. He hurried on as fast as he could, for the
darkness was fast coming on, and was within a hundred yards of the
kloof, when a fine gemsbok, with its tall upright horns, came bounding
down the narrow path at its utmost speed. The creature checked itself
the moment it saw Ernest. The hills on either side were too steep to be
mounted, unless at a foot-pace, and the gemsbok's instinct taught it
that this would place it at the mercy of an enemy. As soon therefore as
it could stop itself, it turned short round and galloped back into the
kloof. Warley fired after it, but his nerves were discomposed, and the
light was so bad that he could hardly have hoped to hit. He could hear
the bok rushing along with unabated speed, the sound of its feet dying
off in the gorge of the mountain; but two minutes afterwards there came
another sound, which seemed like the crack of a ride, though at a
considerable distance.
If this was so, there must be some person, beside their own party,
somewhere about; for the shot could not have been fired by either Lavie
or Nick. At another time, Warley would have hesitated before going in
search of a stranger in so wild a region as that of the Kalahari. The
shot might have come from a party of Bushmen or Bechuanas; some few of
whom, he knew, had possessed themselves of European firearms. In that
case, himself and his whole party would run a very imminent risk of
being seized and murdered for the sake of their rifles. And even if the
person should prove to be a European, it was as likely as not, that he
was an escaped convict from the Cape prisons, who might be even more
dangerous to encounter than the savages of the desert. But Frank's
situation forbade any considerations of this kind. To secure even the
chance of obtaining help for him, was enough to overpower all other
calculations.
He hurried on accordingly in the direction whence the sound had come as
fast as possible, and after half an hour's exertion, was rewarded by
seeing a long way off the figure of a man carrying a gun over his
shoulder. Even at that distance, and in spite of the uncertain light,
Ernest could perceive that he was a European. Somewhat assured by this,
he shouted at the top of his voice, and presently saw the stranger stop,
and look behind him. The sight of Ernest seemed to surprise him, for
after looking fixedly at him for a few moments, he walked rapidly down
the glen to meet him. As they approached nearer, Warley could
distinguish that the new comer was a man advanced in life, but of a
hardy frame, and his features showed traces of long exposure to the
extremes of cold and heat His dress was peculiar. It consisted of a
hunting-coat of some dark woollen material, with breeches and gaiters to
match, and a broad leather belt, in which were stuck a variety of
articles, which might be needed in crossing the desert:--a drinking-cup
of horn, a flint and steel, a case containing apparently small articles
of value, together with a powder-flask and shot-case. His long gun he
carried slung over his shoulder; and a large broad brimmed hat, the roof
of which was thick enough to resist the fiery rays of even an African
sun, completed his attire. He was not a hunter, that was plain. He
could hardly be a farmer or an itinerant trader, and tourists in those
days were persons very rarely to be met with. Moreover, his first
address showed him to be a man of superior education to any of these.
"I wish you good day, sir," he said in correct English, though with
something of a foreign accent. "I did not know that there was any other
traveller in this neighbourhood, or I should have sought his society.
May I ask your name, and whether you are alone, or one of a party?"
"There are four of us," answered Warley, "we are Englishmen, who have
been wrecked on the western coast, and are now trying to make our way to
Cape Town."
"Indeed," returned the stranger, "but you are aware, I presume, that
this is not the nearest way from the west coast to the town you name.
You have come a long distance out of your way and chosen a very
undesirable route."
"No doubt," said Ernest, "but we could not help ourselves. We fell in
with a Hottentot tribe, and have had a narrow escape from their hands.
But we are in a great strait now. One of our party has incautiously
drunk a quantity of water at a fountain near here, which we have since
discovered to be poisoned; and none of us--"
"What the spring in the kloof, about two miles back, I suppose,"
interrupted the stranger. "I passed it two or three hours ago. I
noticed that it had been poisoned--poisoned by euphorbia juice. Your
friend cannot have had much experience of the Kalahari, or he would have
detected it at once. You may always know water poisoned in that manner
by its clay-like appearance. How much did he drink?"
"A long draught, I am afraid," said Ernest. "I was not present, but he
said so."
"How long ago?"
"I should think two hours."
"There is no time to be lost, if his life is to be saved," observed the
unknown. "Happily, the antidote is easily found in these parts. When,
indeed, are God's mercies ever wanting in the hour of need!"
He spoke the last sentence to himself, rather than to his companion.
Drawing forth his flint and steel, he struck a light, by which he
kindled a small lantern, which was one of the articles appended to his
belt. By the help of these, he began searching among the herbage which
grew thickly on either side of the path. Presently he lighted on the
plant of which he was in quest. It was shaped something like an egg,
which it also nearly resembled in size. He pulled up two or three
specimens of this, and shook the dirt from the roots. Then he again
addressed Warley.
"Where is your friend?" he said. "At the kloof, where he drank the
water, I suppose? You had better take me to him as quickly as
possible."
Warley complied in silence. Lost in wonder at the strangeness of the
adventure, he led the way down the glen, up which he had mounted an hour
or so before.
The elder man seemed as little inclined for conversation as himself.
They proceeded in almost unbroken silence until they had arrived within
a quarter of a mile of their destination. Warley stepped on a little in
advance as they approached the kloof, and Charles came out to meet him.
"How is Frank?" asked Warley in a low tone.
Lavie shook his head. "Nick has found water, but we cannot get any
quantity down his throat I have tried everything I can think of, but in
vain."
"I have fallen in with a man who seems to understand the matter, and
thinks he can save him."
"A man--what, here in the Kalahari? What do you mean?"
Warley hurriedly related what had occurred. "Of course, Charles," he
said, "I can't answer for his knowledge and skill But hadn't we better
let him try what he can do?"
"Yes, I suppose we had," said Lavie, after a pause. "I can do nothing
for him; and though it is true that the poison is slow in its action,
yet it is fatal unless its effects are checked. I'll go and speak to
the man."
He stepped up to the stranger, and in a few hurried words described the
condition of his patient. The newcomer nodded his head.
"Euphorbia poison," he said; "but I trust we shall be in time. Have you
any means of heating water?"
"I have some water nearly boiling in the iron pot here."
"That is well. Be so good as to put some into this cup; rather more
than half full, if you please."
He took one of the egg-shaped fruits, and pounded it in the hot water.
When it had been reduced to a fluid state, he signed to Lavie to lift
Frank's head, and then poured the mixture down the lad's throat. Then
covering him up as warmly as he could, he sat down by his side, and took
his hand.
He sat there, without speaking, for nearly three-quarters of an hour;
then he looked up and said--
"Let us give thanks to God. The boy's life will be spared. He is
beginning to sweat profusely. We have now only to keep him warmly
covered up, and the effects of the poison will pass off."